To make a statue of dry laquer (kanshitsu 乾漆, Trockenlack) you needed quite a wealthy sponsor, since laquer was one of the most expensive materials at this time.

quote
(Japanese: “dry lacquer”),
technique of Japanese sculpture and decorative arts in which a figure or vessel is fashioned with many layers of hemp cloth soaked with lacquer, the surface details being subsequently modelled with a mixture of lacquer, sawdust, powdered clay stone, and other materials. The technique has two varieties: hollow kanshitsu (called dakkatsu), made by preparing the rough shape with clay and covering the surface with lacquered hemp cloth, the clay being subsequently removed to leave the inside hollow; and wood-core kanshitsu (mokushin), in which a hemp-cloth coating is applied over a core carved of wood. Vessels are made by the hollow kanshitsu method, sculpture by either method.source : www.britannica.com

quote
One was the hollow dry lacquer method (*dakkatsu kanshitsu 脱活乾漆), and the other was the wood-core dry lacquer method (*mokushin kanshitsu 木心乾漆). The hollow dry lacquer technique was the first to be used in Japan, and was popular during the Hakuhou and Nara periods. A rough core was first modelled in clay and then layers of hemp cloth soaked in lacquer were applied over the surface, each layer being left to dry before the next layer was added. The clay core was then removed, forming a lightweight hollow statue. A wooden framework was often fitted inside the statue to prevent it warping.
Surface details were modelled with a thick paste known as *kokuso-urushi 木屎漆: a mixture of lacquer, flour, and wood-powder. In wood-core dry lacquer statues the basic shape of the statue was first carved in wood, and then lacquer was applied over the wood. Layers of hemp cloth were used as for the hollow dry lacquer statue, and surface details were added using kokuso-urushi. The lacquer layer tended to be between 1-3cm thick; as the technique developed during the Nara period, the wooden core was carved to an increasing degree of precision and the lacquer layer was made gradually thinner.source : www.aisf.or.jp/~jaanus

quote
Beings just below humans in the Six States of Existence. Asuras are demigods, or semi-blessed beings. They are powerful, yet fierce and quarrelsome, and like humans, they are partly good and partly evil. In their earliest Hindu and Brahman manifestations, the Ashura are always fighting the Ten (Deva) for supremancy (often battling the deities commanded by Taishakuten, the Lord Indra of Hindu mythology).
The Ashura are sometimes compared to the Titans of Greek mythology -- in one legend, they stand in the ocean with the water coming up to only their knees. But in most accounts, the Ashura are not giants. Some say Ashura was an Indian royal who converted to Buddhism. In other Hindu traditions, Ashura is a sun goddess, feared for bringing droughts.

In Japan, Ashura is often shown with three faces and six arms, with the side faces often expressing the violent warrior aspects associated with Ashura's Hindu origin.Read moresource: Ashura
Mark Schumacher

"The National Treasure Ashura
and Masterpieces from Kohfukuji"
at the Tokyo National Museum presents Buddhist statues treasured by Kofukuji temple. Located in the ancient capital of Heijo-kyo in present day Nara Prefecture, Kofukuji temple has been designated as a UNESCO World Heritage Site and celebrates its 1,300th anniversary in 2010. Coinciding with a reconstruction project for the temple's Chukondo (Central Golden Hall), the exhibition showcases 70 items, including wooden sculptures from the seventh century, as well as artifacts excavated from the Chukondo site. Among the highlights is Ashura, a statue of the Buddhist deity of war that has been designated a National Treasure. Ashura statues normally express anger, but the statue at Kofukuji temple is a slender and lovely young boy. The 14 surviving statues from a set of the Devas of the Eight Classes and the Ten Great Disciples of Buddha will be on display together outside the temple for the first time; till June 7.source : Japan Times

3 comments:

Like a visitor from some remote part of the universe, the deity Ashura of Kofukuji Temple in Nara appears with six spindly arms frozen in motion and three faces on a single head that is crowned with a perfectly groomed hairdo. The body is slender and graceful and little imagination is needed to see the numinous figure spring into action like those brilliant deaf Chinese performers who visited Japan last year and amazed all with their synchronized interpretation of the 1,000-armed Kannon bodhisattva.

What are we to make of this extraordinary being? Most religious images represent something — aspired-to ideals or an aspect of doctrine — and in Buddhism, they often have antecedents in Indian Hinduism, just as some Christian saints reveal thinly-veneered attributes of earlier Greek or Egyptian deities.

The Ashura is one of eight deva, deities protecting the Buddha, that derive from even more ancient beings in Hindu mythology, revered for their warriorlike, violent and passionate nature. They rank among the lowest deities in the Buddhist pantheon. Although equipped with amazing supernatural powers, they are still far from enlightenment and the goal of release from death and rebirth.

Yet the faces on the Kofukuji Ashura are disarming with their boyish look of deliberating concentration, the three each slightly different; all seem to challenge us to appraise our own motives rather than threaten us. The Ashura is a beautiful, unforgettable object, all the more remarkable as it dates from the eighth century, barely a couple of hundred years after Buddhism first arrived from Korea. It is a masterpiece born of profound faith and the pious Imperial patronage of its time.

Until June 7, Tokyo will be blessed with an opportunity unprecedented in modern times to see this sublime statue together with other treasures from Kofukuji without the interference of any glass cases or partitions. The installation has been intelligently designed, with the statues illuminated in darkened rooms that invoke an atmosphere of mystery and reverence. In this special exhibition organized to commemorate the 1,300-year anniversary of the temple's establishment, for the first time ever Ashura and accompanying statues of disciples and protectors of the Buddha are being shown outside Kofukuji.

Through its history, the temple has suffered the usual litany of fires and disasters, and it is something of a miracle that these statues have survived. Now the central hall of the temple in Nara will be rebuilt with all the disaster-mitigating technology that architects can provide.

All except one of the eight deva at Kofukuji survived in more-or-less original condition. The exception is an image of Gobujoh, seen wearing splendid headgear in the shape of a wild boar: The statue has had its arms disjointed and is missing most of its body. Together with the 10 statues of Buddha's disciples, they were made on the command of the Empress Komyo (701-760) to commemorate the death of her mother, Tachibana no Michiyo, soon after Kofukuji had been established.

Religious sculpture had been previously cast in bronze and other metals or carved from wood, but during the eighth century the art of dry lacquer was perfected to make long-lasting images that were light in weight and could be modeled to show fine detailing. The technique involved carving a base image out of clay or wood, on to which sheets of lacquer-soaked material — usually hemp — were applied. When this layer had dried and become rigid, the inner core was removed and the face and costume finished with a layer of gesso then applied pigments and gold leaf.

The eighth century was perhaps the golden age for this technique, as can be seen from the Kofukuji statues. Following centuries saw a predominance of wooden sculpture that was, well, wooden in expression, until the Kamakura Period (1185-1333), when lifelike imagery was seen again — especially in sculptures of famous priests.

Three of the other deva have lifelike expressions, suggesting that they too were copied from or at least inspired by live models. Each have unlined, youthful faces and wear strange headgear: one a coiled snake, another the fanged head of a lion, while the one known as Kinnara reveals just a single horn growing though his hairdo and a split in his forehead indicating the third eye that we see on various Hindu and Buddhist images.

While all the deva are seen wearing the similar protective costumes of Chinese warriors — which still show some of the original painting and gold-leaf decoration — the remaining three display facial features that are markedly different from the others. One has a moustache and beard, and eyes that look strangely too close together; while another, derived according to legend from fierce warriors and animal spirits, has a ferocious grimace and bulging eyes of a truly otherworldly creature. But most striking of all is the beaked deva known as Karura that reminds us of the more familiar Garuda — the emblem of the Indonesian airline and a familiar figure in Balinese performances — that also has ancient, Indian antecedents. This statue shows an ingenious melding of human and avian features with a parrotlike beak in place of a mouth and nose, human ears, hair divided by what looks like an emerging cockscomb, and eyes that could cause viewers to fear they were being considered for lunch.

Buddha's disciples are far more human than the deva and seem to have been modeled after a group of live subjects of different ages, with expressions ranging from the contemplative to some that appear as if in mid- sermon. They are portrayed in simple monks' robes, some of which still show rectangular patches of paint depicting how they were made from scraps of old material.

This exhibition is still drawing overflow crowds but is worth any effort to see. If you can manage it, try getting to the museum at opening time on a weekday when there are fewer visitors. Word has it that teenage girls are falling in love with the Ashura on account of his handsome faces — or maybe his six arms — so holidays are perhaps best avoided.

A-Yokai-A-Day: Ashura - snipUnlike some imports from other cultures, ashura came over with very few changes from their Indian counterparts, which is why they still resemble the asura of Vedic mythology. Something that I find totally fascinating, however: historians and linguists who study the proto-Indo-European culture (the theoretical precursor to the languages and religions of most of the land between Europe and India) have suggested a link between the asura of Indian tradition, Ahura Mazda of Zoroastrianism, and the aesir of Norse mythology. Besides the obvious linguistic similarities, there are a lot of similarities behind the myths associated with these beings, including a war between the gods and demons. In Norse mythology, the aesirare the gods we know as Odin, Thor, and so on. Ahura Mazda is the principle god of Zoroastrianism, and asura are a kind of demon in Vedic mythology. In other words, it is possible that the same mythical character eventually evolved into all three of these beings!- snipWhen you take that a little bit further, remember that Odin, and aesir, is often said to be the origin of Santa Claus. So, if we really stretch the imagination, could we say that Santa Claus is actually an ashura? Of course, that’s quite silly, but the fact is that you can trace a direct line between the two characters’ histories. As different as European and Japanese traditions are, it’s comforting to know that, when you strip back the layers of time, many of the things that we think make us unique, actually share a common link..http://matthewmeyer.net/blog/2015/10/20/a-yokai-a-day-ashura/